Racism in Investment

Regarding James Flanigan’s Jan. 29 column, “Best Foreign Buyout Policy Is Self-Interest”:

Flanigan’s comment on Japanese officials’ puzzlement over the clamor that their nation’s investments arouse in this country, even though they are dwarfed by British investments, is rather naive.

First of all, even Dutch investment in the United States is greater than Japanese investment, and the Swiss are not far behind. What is different about Japanese investment and the reason it arouses the media and Congress is simply because it is the first nation of color that is making any kind of inroads in the United States.

The fact that the British invested 2 1/2 times as much as the Japanese last year would probably surprise nearly everybody. But it’s no big deal with the media because, after all, they are the mother country. Likewise when any other white majority nation invests heavily here: It is ho-hum time.

I am sensitive to the issue of Japan-bashing because I have learned from bitter experience that as favorable sentiment toward Japan diminishes, the rising resentment is easily transferred to Japanese-Americans as well. The point I am trying to make is that if one peels away all the furor and arguments about Japanese trade and investment, one will find racism at the core. Think about it.

SHIGEO YUGE

Los Angeles